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December 2016

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The increasing purchasing power of people is pushing the demand for premium innerwear items in India by 40-50 percent per annum.

To cater to the growing demand, manufacturers are launching new brands in their effort to grab a bigger share in the estimated Rs. 40 billion premium innerwear market in India.

Mr. KB Agarwala, Managing Director of Rupa & Co., who is also the President of Hosiery Manufacturers' Association, told fibre2fashion, “The premium innerwear segment in India is growing at 40-50 percent each year.”

“As the purchasing power of the people is increasing, there is a good scope in the future for those who are in this segment. At present, many new brands are also entering in this category,” he opines.

Airing similar views, Mr. Nischal Puri, CEO of Brandis India, says, “Next to apparels, people have started paying attention to accessories after spending on basic necessities, owing to rising salaries and retail becoming far more sophisticated.”

Continuing further, he says, “It is because of a surplus disposable income that the innerwear category is finding a boom. Earlier, innerwear was considered just a functional garment. However, now with the consumer having reached a certain level where the basics are very well met, the premium innerwear market is witnessing a certain splurge of activity.”

“Secondly, the entry cost for premium innerwear garment is very less compared to a high-end denim jeans which costs Rs. 5000. The entry-level cost for a brasserie is Rs. 350, for women's innerwear it is roughly around Rs. 90, and for men's innerwear it is Rs. 120. So, there is hardly any entry barrier, which makes it easier for a consumer to upgrade to better innerwear. That is where we are finding the middle market getting converted to premium and premium to super premium,” he adds.

Estimating the size of premium innerwear market in India, Mr. Puri says, “The women's premium innerwear market is around Rs. 12.4 billion, which is around 15.9 percent of the total innerwear market. Men's premium segment also has a similar percentage share in total innerwear market. However, men's innerwear market is much bigger in terms of value than women's innerwear.”

Both Brandis India and Rupa & Co. are witnessing good sales of their respective premium innerwear brands.

Mr. Agarwala of Rupa & Co. reveals, “We offer premium innerwear products under the brand MacroMan. We are focusing more on this segment, as we see a huge potential and we are also getting a good response from our customers.”

“We launched 2GO, a men's sportswear brand, a year back and it is doing decently well. And we wish to keep adding more product varieties in 2GO and Beyouty – the ladies' innerwear brand,” reveals Mr. Puri of Brandis India.